


Switchpoint

by manonlechat



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Drama, Emo!Fluff, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26866810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manonlechat/pseuds/manonlechat
Summary: Zuko and Mai share a moment during their return to the Fire Nation.One-shot / complete.
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	Switchpoint

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, Maiko. This Zutara fangirl can never get behind it. But back in 2007, I lost a bet and wagered Maiko fanfic. Request was "Mai/Zuko on the boat" and setting is between the second and third seasons. Hope I did these kids justice!

  
"I'm tired of being at sea."

Mai raised a morsel of salted fish between enameled chopsticks and examined it closely. Her nose turned upward.

No one answered her.

Zuko poked half-heartedly at his rice. It had been over a week since they had departed the Earth Kingdom, and shared meals between the four young Fire Nation nobles were often strained occasions. Only Azula seemed continually unruffled and unconcerned, even when—as tonight—the ocean was rough.

The cabin lurched suddenly forward and its occupants scrambled to steady their dinnerware. Zuko closed his eyes and took refuge in a moment of comforting blackness. The rising climbs and rolling drops would be more pronounced in the hull of the ship—where the prison cells were located. He tried to banish that thought.

Someone made a noise in-between a hiccup and a gurgle and Zuko opened his eyes again. He looked left; Ty Lee's knuckles were white and gripped tightly around a teacup.

"Are you okay?" As little inclined as he was for conversation, he couldn't help but ask.

"My aura… is very green," she answered weakly, avoiding any downward glance at his rice.

"Are _you_ feeling seasick, Zuzu?" Azula asked. She smiled pleasantly from across the table and lifted a spoonful of broth to her lips. "You've hardly touched your dinner."

"I'm not hungry," he said. Ty Lee gingerly sipped her tea.

Azula lowered her spoon and cocked her head sympathetically.

"I would have thought you'd grown used to being on the ocean. All of that fresh salt air, open water, just you and Uncle, nothing to do…"

Zuko's chopsticks slammed with a clink against the table surface.

Azula smiled wider.

"You must have had a lot of time to kill while you were looking for the Avatar." Her voice was light, casual. "Did you play Pai Sho together? Did Uncle teach you the Sungi horn?"

Zuko's mouth curled downward. His hands slowly formed into fists on either side of his bowl.

Mai's eyes shifted left, watching him.

"It sounds _so_ relaxing." Azula's eyes glinted and focused sharply on her brother. "No wonder Uncle got even fatter—"

Suddenly, there was a swift, abrupt _TWANG_ as a serving fork sailed across the cabin, embedding with a dull _thunk_ in a wood chest in an opposite corner.

Three shocked faces looked at the fork, still quivering, then turned in unison to stare at Mai.

"I saw a rat," she said dryly. She raised a second piece of fish to her lips.

Azula frowned.

Ty Lee clasped both hands to her mouth, her cheeks bulging out with a sickly gulp.

* 

Mai searched out Zuko once the excitement was over. She found him on deck, alone and staring at the dark horizon.

The waters had finally calmed. Clouds obfuscated the stars but the glow from the full moon limned their outlines and cast light over the inky blackness.

"You need to find a new hobby," Mai said, slipping her arm through his and smiling.

Zuko didn't answer.

"You should be also more careful," she warned, seriously this time. "Control your reactions. It wouldn't hurt for you to conceal things from Azula every once and a while."

"I'm not a liar. I'm not good at _concealing_."

Mai's eyes narrowed. "I didn't say you had to be a liar. You just don't have to make it so easy for her."

He turned toward her and their bodies separated.

"I thought you were Azula's friend. Are you telling me that you don't trust her?"

"You're her brother," she responded coolly. "Do you?"

Zuko turned his gaze back to the horizon. Mai continued to watch him for a moment, her lips tightly pursed. Finally, she turned to leave.

"Mai?"

"What?" she said, stopping but not turning fully around.

"I'm sorry."

The hardness around her mouth seemed to melt.

"Don't stay out here too long," she said, looking over her shoulder. "I'll see you inside."

"One more thing—"

She stopped again and turned to face him.

Zuko closed the distance between them before she could react, kissing her on her mouth.

" _You_ don't have to be careful all the time," he whispered as he pulled back, the warmth of his lips hovering beside her ear.

She scowled at him in mock indignation and then smiled, drawing her fingers affectionately through his ruffled hair, the faintest stroke of pink covering her cheeks and nose.

_Fin._


End file.
